29 - الْحَكَمُ

[Bint e Aisha]

الْحَكَمُ

 

Translation

الْحَكَمُ is translated as The Judge and The Arbitrator.

 

Definition

It is One Who Decides and Whose decisions cannot be rejected.

 

وَلَا يُشْرِكُ فِي حُكْمِهِ أَحَدًا - and He does not let anyone share in His command. [Surah Kahf; 26]

 

All decisions come from Allah ta’ala - regarding the entire universe, eternity, our temporary lives, our Rizq, life, death, peace and love, difficulties we will go through, children etc. 

 

In the world Allah ta’ala decides between truth and falsehood and in the Aakhirah He decides whether people are fortunate or unfortunate. Allah ta’ala’s decision is ongoing in the world on whether a person believes or disbelieves and follows the truth or not. 

 

أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ أَبْتَغِي حَكَمًا وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكِتَابَ مُفَصَّلًا ۚ
 

Say: Should I seek a judge other than Allah, when He is the One Who has revealed this Book (The Qur'an) with full details? [Surah An’aam: 114]

 

In the Qur’an

It is mentioned once in the Qur’an in terms of Allah ta’ala (the verse above).

 

Accepting Allah ta’ala’s Decree

For us when it comes to Allah ta’ala’s decree we should be content and this is the effect this name should have on us i.e. Allah ta’ala is The One Who decides, arbitrates and judges. 

 

The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam said,

“Wondrous is the affair of the believer for there is good for him in every matter and this is not the case with anyone except the believer. If he is happy, then he thanks Allah and thus there is good for him, and if he is harmed, then he shows patience and thus there is good for him.” [Muslim]

 

Therefore for a Believer it is a win, win situation where there is no loss through doing Sabr and Shukr. 

 

A lot of psychological problems like anxiety, depression, etc. can be alleviated if we accept the decree of Allah ta’ala. These problems are to do with questioning and not accepting His decree.

 

All decisions regarding anything that benefits or harms, lies with Allah ta’ala. In Surah Baqarah (part of verse 102) Allah ta’ala says,  

وَمَا هُمْ بِضَارِّينَ بِهِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ -although they could harm none with it except with Allah's permission. 

 

Another point is that if Allah ta’ala decides / wills a difficulty to happen due to our own sins as a punishment, or due to Allah ta’ala wanting to increase our ranks, we know that it is the decree of Allah ta’ala and when we know this, it becomes easy for us not to judge, get upset or have bad feelings towards others. We should then turn to Allah ta’ala and not to people i.e. in Du’a we should call out, “O Allah, You are Al-Hakam. You are The Decider so decide in my favour in this difficulty.”

 

Sometimes we do not know what is best for us and only retrospectively realize that what happened was in our favour. We plan but Allah ta’ala is the best of planners. Therefore when things do not go the way we want especially when we have worked hard for something, then we should realize there must be Khayr in it and Allah ta’ala is The Decider. 

 

A Comprehensive Sifat

Scholars say this is a very high level and comprehensive Sifat of Allah ta’ala with a lot of meaning in it. A Haakim can only be that Being Who has perfect sight, hearing and knowing. So Allah ta’ala being  الْحَكَمُ incorporates other Sifaat of Allah ta’ala -  السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ الْعَلِيمُ

 

Counsel

We should have Yaqeen (Certainty) that all decisions come from Allah ta’ala and this should result in Itminaan (contentment) , tranquility of the heart. Those who do not accept the decree of Allah ta’ala do not have Itminaan. 

 

The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam said,

“The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allaah than the weak believer, although both are good. Strive to do that which will benefit you and seek the help of Allaah, and do not feel helpless. If anything befalls you, do not say ‘If only I had done (such and such), the such and such would have happened,’ rather say: ‘Allaah has decreed and what He wills He does,’ for ‘if only’ opens the door to the work of the shaytaan.” [Muslim]
 

Therefore do not go back and revise your history. It can cause anxiety and depression. Even psychologists who study human behaviour say those who take out “If” out of their thinking are happier, balanced people. We accept worldly leaders and their decisions even if it is a leader we do not like and have not voted for. We should accept the decisions of Allah ta’ala as it is He Who makes the laws of the universe. 

 

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